From feeding chickens to chair yoga

At City Farm Osdorp, people with early-stage dementia have been able to participate in various activities as day care for over a year. This peaceful, healthy, and green environment is perfect for this purpose. Ria and Joke lead these mornings. “We both do it with love and want to be a link for the people.”

“May I interrupt for a moment… do you have any fun places I can go to…?”

Els (87 years old) leans over the table towards us, armed with a pen and a piece of paper. Plenty of nice things: on Monday she is welcome at the library, and on Wednesday she can come eat at the City Farm. She writes down a number of phone numbers on a piece of paper for the umpteenth time and asks a few more times whether she should register or not. With a “Well, thank you very much… it was cozy again,” she shuffles to the door to be taken home.It is a scene from the morning for mildly demented individuals and their caregivers, organized at Stadsboerderij Osdorp. Welfare organization Combiwel organizes this day care and shows no lack of ambition on its website. “It is a step towards empowerment and inclusion.” And, they want to “create a blueprint for future day care transitions.” The translation of these high ambitions is up to volunteers Joke and Ria:

A cozy morning

“We always start around 10 o’clock with a cup of coffee, then we do chair yoga, which is just lovely. Some people come just for that. I think that takes about twenty minutes and then we see what the people want. Els, for example, really enjoys playing shuffleboard. Last time we made little figures, we painted – you can see the paintings hanging there -, we made the placemats that were on the table ourselves. And we also have the chickens next door. Some of us will feed the chickens. Others will take a walk around the farm. And especially in summer, that is absolutely wonderful,” says Ria. “We simply provide,” adds Joke, “a pleasant morning for a group of people, mildly demented, lonely people, well actually everyone is welcome.”

Love for people

The two ladies are motivated to lead this activity. Ria’s husband was demented for ten years before he passed away. She considers herself an expert by experience. Joke mainly had the desire to stay in touch with people after her retirement. Both emphasize that the only thing you need to participate in their activity is ‘love for people’.

A success story

To their regret, the turnout of the target group is low. It appears to be difficult to reach them. This is unfortunate because, for example, Joke and Ria see really positive signals in Els mentioned. “Yes, she is a success story. She really enjoys coming here and is becoming more interested in things. At first, she only wanted to play shuffleboard; now she also wants to do other things like flower arranging. It is also a huge relief for her 91-year-old husband.”

A parallel world

The low turnout is prompting Ria to stop this activity. But not volunteering altogether. She is active in two other places and visits other activities as a ‘guest’: “this way you stay among people, you stay in the game.” Joke is also active in various places in Nieuw-West during the week with volunteering. That evening she cooks for a group of neighbors, the next day she teaches language lessons in the language café, and a day later she talks to lonely people. They both are part of a kind of parallel world of volunteering where various activities take place every day and where, it seems, you never have to be bored. They see themselves literally as links in that network: “we both do it with love and do it to be a link for people. We do what we can.”

Just imagine what the world would be like without these kinds of links!

Are you also interested in volunteering?

our online job board At [brand name], you’ll find 1001 possibilities. See what suits you and what makes you happy! Would you like us to brainstorm with you?Feel free to drop by one of our consultation hours anytime. Want to learn more about the program at the City Farm or do you want to help make every Friday a wonderful day? Please contact Wasilis: w.psathas@combiwel.nl / 06 2357 7458.Text and portrait Ria and Joke: Piet RenooyAction photos: Kitty de Jong